Weyburnites have been struggling with topics such as mental illness, depression and even suicide lately and this week is a time to shine a light on these issues. It's Mental Health Week, and the Weyburn branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association wants to "get loud" about mental health, with something planned for each day of the week.

Mental Health Week in Weyburn kicks off with the Mayor's Luncheon Monday with guest speaker Darren Neuberger. Neuberger is a motivational speaker and author who is originally from Weyburn. Program director for the Weyburn branch of the CMHA Tasha Collins talks shared that Neuberger was one of the authors and founding members of the book "Breaking the Silence: our stories of healing and hope".

"This is a book where Weyburn and community members came together to share their own stories of whether they were living with a mental illness or just struggling with their mental health. So, this is a really wonderful book and we at CMHA wanted to highlight the work that was done throughout this book and highlight the funds from that book go directly to helping people living with mental illness in our community," explained Collins.

The luncheon is at McKenna Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets are available from the CMHA office.

Other fundraisers for the Weyburn CMHA include a semicolon tattoo event on Tuesday by Under Your Skin. For $50 participants can choose from several different permanent tattoo designs.

"When an author is writing...an author can use that semicolon to not end a sentence but continue on, so that's kind of the significance of the semicolon," explained Collins. "The author essentially is yourself. Could have chosen to end the sentence but they choose not to. So, it could be yourself or somebody that you know may have been affected by suicide. That semicolon representing the fact that suicide doesn't need to be the answer and that there could be life prevailing instead of ending."

On Wednesday and Thursday Blue Earth will be holding a book sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with all proceeds going to CMHA.

From Tuesday to Thursday Weyburn's CMHA Youth Theatre Group will be holding a production at the Tommy Douglas Centre at 7 p.m. with a silver donation at the door.

Throughout the week, Detente Spa will be offering a variety of spa services with proceeds going to the CMHA. Collins said this is part of CMHA's self-care initiative.

More information about Mental Health Week can be found on the Weyburn CMHA website.